Shaving implement



w. L. MARTIN 2,26

SHAVING IMPLEMENT Filed Sept. 12, 1939 INVENTOR WENDELL 1 L. MART/N ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 23, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE SHAVING IMPLEMENT Wendell L. Martin, Shaker Heights, Ohio Application September 12, 1939, Serial No. 294,458 (01. 30-43) 6 Claims.

This invention relates broadly to dry shavers, but more particularly to an improved shear plate or guard that rests against the skin and has reciprocatory cutters operatively engaging its under side for cutting or shearing hairs.

One object of thisinvention is to produce an improved guard for dry shavers formed with alternate slots and teeth disposed in a manner afiording positive contact of the hairs with the shearing edges of the guards teeth. during normal translation of the shaver over the skin, overcoming thereby the possibility of the hairs being bent by the cutter preparatory to the shearing action, and consequently resulting in a clean and eflicient shave.

Another object of this invention is to produce an improved guard for dry shavers formed of a plurality of sections mounted side by side against each other, each section having a skin contacting surface formed with alternate slots and teeth extending from one to the other side thereof, the slots being of a width calculated to enable free passe ge of the hairs therethrough, while the teeth are a shape calculated to enable entrance of the skin partway in the slots without danger of extending below the shearingedges of the teeth.

against any appreciable movement relative to one The guard proper, generally designated by' 9,

is made of a plurality of channel shaped sections 3 M, the number of which may vary but is preferably limited to'three. These sections are mounted side by side against each other with the end portions thereof located within the inturned ends I2 of the bracket II, where they are spot welded to the bracket or otherwise secured thereto gaged by a cutter l9 formed with alternate slots The guard being further characterized by the.

slots and teeth of any two adjacent sections sloping in reversed directions and disposed in staggered relation, thereby enabling positiveconrelatively pensive to manufacture andwhich may be pressed against the skin without idang r of caving or flexing.

Inthedrawing: Fig. lrepresents a perspective view of 'a razor head assembly embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the im proved guard partly broken away and illustrating a portion of the cutters normally engaging the under side of the guard. C

Fig. 3 is a reducedcross sectional view taken through a line 3-3 in Fig.2, and also illustratj ing the cutter in operative position.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken in a plane indicated by line 4-4 in Fig. 2.

Referring to'the drawing, Ill designates a razor head assembly including a substantially channel.

shaped bracket ll formed with longitudinally s spaced inturned ends l2 between which extends the novel shear plate or guard about to be described. The head Ill may be secured to the upper end of the shavers housing by any suit able means such as screws or the like extending through holes l3 provided through the side walls of the bracket ll.

and teeth 20 and 2B extending laterally thereof. The cutters are also operatively connected to a single motor (not shown) of any suitable type calculated to impart to the cutters a reciprocatory motion lengthwise of the sections l5.

The cross wall ill of each section it is provided with longitudinally spaced slots 24 extending" laterally from one to the other side thereof, andv sloping slightly in one direction. These slotsf may be produced by any suitable manner; but" preferably by first gang milling each sectioniwith straight cutters 25 to produce slots with straight vertical sidewalls 26, the depth of the cut'being calculated to extend well below the inner surface 1 i8 ofthe cross wall It and consequentlythrough the upper portion of the side walls l6. Sub

sequently the section is again gang milled with), V-shaped.cutt,ers 2! fed toa cutting depth ex-' tending slig htly below the; inner surface l8 of the crosswall I5, thereb producing'the slots 24 with'inclined side walls'28 extending from one culated to enable free passage. of the hairs therethrough, while the uppfir portions ofthe ends thereof flare outwardly asciea'rly shown at 30 in,

Fig, This enlargement of the upper portions of the ends of the slots is caused by the cutters 21 cuttingthrough the lateral end portions of the'cross wall 15, which end portionsare slightly higher than the middle portion of the cross wall due to the laterally concaved shape of the outer-- surface ll.

The land left between any twoadjacentslots forms a tooth 3h having inclined side. walls formed by the side walls ztor the slots 24;which side walls constitute with the inner flat surface ll of the tooth sharp straight cutting edges. Due

to the slanted side walls of the teeth ll, the teeth are somewhat wider at the base or across the inner surfacethereof than across the outer surface, while the end portions of the teeth, due to the laterally concaved shape of their outer surface corresponding to the outer surface I] of the cross wall II, are somewhat thicker or higher than the middle portion thereof, thereby providing the teeth with raised end portions engageable with the skin in a manner causing the skin to bulge slightly between the ends of the teeth for partial penetration into the slots 24.

In practice, the marginal end portions ll are provided with alternate slots and teeth sloping in one direction, while the middle section It is provided with alternate slots and teeth preferably sloping in a reversed direction, with its slots staggered relative to the slots of the two portions. thereby resulting in the teeth of the middle section closing the adiacent normally opened ends of the slots of the other two sections.

In operation, it is of course understood that the cutters I! are operatively engaging the under sides I. of the cross walls I! or of the teeth 3!, and are reciprocated longitudinally of the sections I 4. when moving the razor over the skin in a'direction perpendicular to the longitudinal edges of the guard l, and with the guard resting against the skin, the hairs will enter the slots as shown by a series of small circles in connection with one of the slots in Fig. 2. In this instance, the ends of the slots being somewhat wider than the middle portions thereof, will assist in or facilitate entrance of the hairs into the slots. Due to the inclination of the slots 24 and the consequential inclination of the teeth 3|, the teeth, or more specifically one shearing edge of each tooth, will gradually move closer to the hairs to finally result in the tangential engagement of the tooths shearing edge with the hairs preparatory to the shearing of the hairs by the cutters is. when the teeth 2| of the cutters I! slide under the corresponding teeth ll of the guard 9, the hairs in tangential engagement with the shearing edges or the teeth of the guard will be sheared by the teeth of the cutter without enabling possible bending, of the hairs, thereby resulting in a clean and eiiicient shave.

The shearing edge of the teeth 3| being materially less than 90', will aiford, in combination with the corresponding shearing edges of the cutters teeth II, a sharp and efficient shearing action overcoming any tendency to pull the hairs or otherwise cause any discomfort to the skin. Due to the laterally concaved shape of the upper surface of the teeth 3!, the raised end portions thereof will engage the skin in a manner causing it to bulge slightly therebetween for partial penetration into the slots 24 or into close proximity to the shearing edges of the teeth ii. The teeth ll of the middle section ll of the guard a sloping in a reverse direction relative to the teeth of the extreme sections. will enable hairs to be tangentially enga ed by opp s d shearing edges of the teeth during movement of the razor in one direction, consequently caus-' strokes of the cutters l9, and the hairs engaging the left hand sides of the teeth of the middle section to be sheared during the rightward strokes of the cutters, thereby enabling shearing-action to take place during longitudinal movement of the cutters in both directions and consequently producing a more eiiicient and rapid shave.

- Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, in order to completely set forth the invention, it is to be understood that the specific terminology is not in tended to be restrictive or confining, and it is to be further understood that various rearrangements of parts and modification of structural detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim:

1. In a shaving implement, a guard formed of a plurality of channel shaped sections mounted side by side against each other, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced slots through the cross wall of each section extending from one to the other side thereof in angular relation with the slots of the adjacent section.

2. In a shaving implement, a guard including a substantially rectangular skin contacting relatively thin wall, and a plurality of minute slots through said wall disposed in a herring-bonelike manner.

3. In a shaving implement, a guard including a substantially rectangular skin contacting relatively thin wall, and a plurality of longitudinally extending rows of minute slots through said wall extending laterally thereof with the slots of any two adjacent rows sloping in reverse directions.

4. In a shaving implement, a guard formed of a plurality of channel shaped sections mounted side by side against each other, the cross wall of each section being relatively thin with the outer surface thereof laterally concaved, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced V-shaped slots through the cross wall of each section extending obliquely from one to the other side thereof with the end portions of said slots slightly wider than the middle portions thereof.

5. In a shaving implement, a guard including a relatively thin-skin contacting wall, alternate slots and teeth extending laterally of said wall, said slots being of a width enabling free passage of the hairs therethrough, said teeth being disposed in a manner enabling opposite sides there of to move gradually into tangential engagement with hairs located substantially vertically in said slots during movement 'of the implement over the skin in one direction, and reciprocatory cutter means engaging the under sides of said teeth for shearing the hairs engaging one side of said teeth during movement of said cutter means in one direction and the hairs engaging the other side of said teeth during movement of said cutter means in the other direction.

6. In a shaving implement, an elongated guard including a relatively thin skin contacting wall, alternate slots and teeth extending laterally of said wall, said slots having outwardly flaring open ends and being of a width enabling free passage of the hairs therethrough, said teeth sloping relative to the marginal longitudinal edges of said guard in a manner causing them to tangentially engage the hairs located in said slots during movement of the implement over the skin in a direction perpendicular to said edges, and cutter means for shearing the hairs when in tangential engagement with said teeth.

WENDELL L. MARTIN 

